Top UK business intelligence tools

Following on from John DiGilio’s insightful webinar (Cool Tools for Competitive Intelligence) and recent article, we have been thinking about which business intelligence tools are most useful for UK firms. In 2018 alone, 89% of large companies had dedicated business intelligence personnel, so it is clearly an important resource.

What are business intelligence (BI) tools?

BI tools are far-reaching. In fact, you are probably already using some in your firm. They include anything and everything from subscription databases to CRM systems to data aggregation tools.

BI tools help by enhancing your understanding of the markets in which you operate, your competitors and key topics for example. They also provide insights and trends, so you can create effective strategies, plan more efficiently and increase profits.

To give you a better idea of what BI tools can help you with, we’ve compiled a list of some popular programmes. Each of these tools is accessible in the UK and expand on John’s useful suggestions.  

Recommended tools

1. Manzama— news aggregation and insights service, helping you to keep track of the news on prospects, clients and competitors.
2. Tableau— already an excellent analytics tool, a recent takeover by CRM system Salesforce could make for an exciting integrated service.
3. Crunchbase— a company research and monitoring tool bringing together information on news, deals, people and industry trends.
4. Baker Tilly Tracker— monitor client, competitor and prospect’s financial health, track company information from credit scores to administrations, to new companies entering the market.

How to get your firm onboard

We know all too well the challenges that can occur from persuading team members to use new software, especially when it involves learning new processes. Analysing and synthesising this data can also take time, so it helps to work with researchers who are used to working with business intelligence systems and can pick out key points.

We can act as your BI partner to help find the right tools for your firm, set them up and train new users. This typically follows a 4-step process: research, analyse, report, monitor. We provide human-powered services alongside technological tools to ensure your data is quality assured, trustworthy and that you are getting the best out of the system. Find out more about how we work here.